What's going on with David Peterson early in the year?
A sloppy and poorly pitched game extends the Mets losing streak to three games
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets opened their series against the Giants with a 7-2 loss in San Francisco (box)
LHP David Peterson was awful from the jump and lucky to pitch into the fifth inning. His final line was 4.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB and 5 K. He also made an error that led to the third run crossing the plate in the first inning
LHP Sean Manaea relieved Peterson and could not stop the bleeding. He gave up one run in 3.2 innings and walked two and struck out two
1B Mark Vientos briefly got the Mets back in it with a solo home run, his first of the season
3B Bo Bichette got them on the board first with a first inning double. He also just missed a home run that got recorded as a flyout
LF Juan Soto went 1-for-4 with a run and now has a hit in all seven games this season
2B Marcus Semien snapped a 0-for-20 skid with a hit in the seventh
The Mets committed a costly error in the first which allowed a run to score, and there was miscommunication on a popup behind second base that Semien was unable to catch in the second inning, which continued a concerning trend of sloppy play by the Mets
The Mets were hitless in three at-bats with runners in scoring position - they’re 11-for-71 this season with runners in scoring position, 29th in baseball
Play of the Game 🙃
David Peterson was pretty brutal to watch against the Giants, but despite struggling in the first inning, he had the opportunity to escape the inning without any damage done.
Unfortunately, he proceeded to give up a triple to Luis Arraez with two outs and then a double to Matt Chapman to give the Giants the lead. The backbreaker came a batter later when Mark Vientos made a nice diving play, but Peterson dropped the ball at first, allowing the third run to cross the plate. The Giants tacked on later, but that run was essentially the game winner for the Giants.
It was another sloppy play by the Mets, a concerning recurring theme for the club in the first week of the season.
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
In the first edition of the Midweek Show, Rich MacLeod recaps and reacts to the Mets rough series loss to the Cardinals and their horrific stretch of offense over the last five games.
SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Down on the Farm 🌾
C Hayden Senger (Triple-A): 2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, K
SS Elian Peña (No. 8 prospect, Single-A): 2-for-4, 2B, BB, K
CF Nick Morabito (No. 12 prospect, Triple-A): 2-for-4, 2B, R, BB, K
BOX SCORES
Triple-A SYR | Single-A STL
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (3-4) at Giants (2-4)
Where: Oracle Park - San Francisco, CA
Starters: RHP Nolan McLean (0-0, 3.60 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Mahle (0-1, 4.50 ERA)
When: 10:15 PM EDT
Where to Watch: WPIX
The Mets have a David Peterson problem ✍️
It is only a week into the 2026 season, and it is hard to make any grand statements with so many games left to play, but so far, David Peterson’s starts have been more of the same from the 2025 season.
In his first start of the season against Pittsburgh, he did not allow any runs, but he could not complete the sixth inning and allowed eight baserunners before having to be lifted with one out in the sixth. It was an okay start but certainly not a particularly good one against a weak offensive opponent.
Now, in his second start, it all unraveled.
He gave up five runs, nine hits, and two walks in 4.1 innings pitched and was hit hard all night long. He settled down for a little bit but still had to be lifted in the fifth inning in favor of Sean Manaea.
The chart below illustrates the contact Peterson allowed which either resulted in a hit or a run scored. Most everything was centered and at the belt or higher, which is the reason he was allowing productive and loud contact against the Giants in his outing on Thursday night.
Yeah, poor location and poor pitch execution won’t result in good things in this league.
One bad start and one okay start would not necessarily be concerning at the start of the season, but combined with how Peterson’s season ended last year, there is a little bit of concern around the southpaw.
Overall, Peterson has allowed a league-high 15 hits in only 9.2 IP. Combine that with the four walks he’s allowed, and that’s just way too many baserunners that create way too many run-scoring opportunities against him.
And, with that pitch location, he’s not going to be able to prevent a lot of runs against the hitters in this league.
Last year seemed to be Peterson’s coming-out party. Before the All-Star break, he was 6-4 with a 3.06 ERA, which earned him a trip to the All-Star game. Post-All-Star break, he looked far from that All-Star caliber pitcher. He was 3-2 with a 6.34 ERA in 59.2 innings pitched. In the second half of the season, hitters were hitting .291 against him, whereas in the beginning of the year, they were hitting just .240. The inflated ERA to end the season, now combined with two shaky starts, is a concerning trend.
Now, the Mets and Peterson will have you believe his poor second half was attributed to him hitting a wall at the end of the season. That’s not a terribly unreasonable conclusion to draw considering he threw more innings than he ever had in a season and had only pitched a little more than half the season prior. But it would be nice to see Peterson look more like he did between June 2024 and May 2025 to start this season, rather than what he’s shown in his first 10 or so innings in 2026.
The Mets were able to save the bullpen by going to Sean Manaea for a long relief outing. He pitched pretty well over 3.2 IP of relief, and Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza said before the game he was hoping to get Manaea a long-ish outing so to keep him stretched out. That’s how it played out, although that might not have happened if Peterson had pitched well and the Mets were leading. His fastball and sinker sat at around 89 mph, which is where he’s generally been since the start of Spring Training. And, until his velocity creeps up into the low 90s, this is going to be a talking point for him, and the bullpen might be where he stays unless someone gets hurt.
Back to Peterson…
The good news is that the rest of the rotation has looked good, and there is plenty of time for the longest tenured Met to turn it around. Also, the team has depth in the rotation should he continue to struggle. Hopefully, it does not come to that, and he recaptures the success of the first half of 2025 David Peterson.
Around the League 🚩
The Pirates are calling up top prospect Konnor Griffin who will make his debut at 19-years-old (ESPN)
The Royals scratched C Carter Jensen from the lineup after he overslept and was late to the ballpark (ESPN)
The Mariners activated SS J.P. Crawford off the IL after he started the season with an injured right shoulder
The Braves put together an eight-run fifth on their way to a 17-2 win over the Diamondbacks (MLB.com)